Roland Berger - Final Round

Hi Abhinav,

Q: It would be very helpful to understand if anyone can highlight any vital aspects that I can consider before appearing for this final round.

In general, in a final round the interviewers may:

1. Spend more time on fit and your alignment with the company.
2. Ask questions related to the areas of improvement for which you got feedback after the first round.
3. Not use a “standard” case. During one of my MBB finals I had one interview made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case.

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To prepare, you can work on the following:

1. Review your fit answers – they could ask more fit questions compared to the first round.
2. Work on the areas they mentioned you could improve, if any (eg. structure, creativity).
3. Focus your case prep on the weakest areas. If you are tracking your performance, do drills for the areas where you are struggling the most / review cases where you made mistakes instead of just doing random cases.

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Extra reading:

▶ How to Prepare for a Consulting Interview

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Good luck!

Francesco

Hi Abhinav,

First of all, congratulations on making it to the final round of the interview process at Roland Berger!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• Be prepared: Review the information you've been provided about the company and the position, and be ready to discuss your qualifications and how they align with the role. Make sure you have also identified and addressed any weaknesses that you may have.
• Show your enthusiasm: Let the partners know that you're excited about the opportunity to join their team and contribute to the company's success.
• Highlight your relevant experience: Be sure to emphasize the experiences you've had that make you well-suited for the role.
• Be a good listener: Pay attention to the questions the partners are asking and answer them directly. Also, don’t hesitate to ask clarifying questions if you are unsure about what they are looking for.
• Be prepared for anything, including strategic and conceptual questions about the consulting industry and business in general. Be ready to think on your feet and demonstrate your problem-solving abilities.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming partner interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi Abhinav,

The more you go in expecting x thing, the more y and z thing will throw you off!

The differences between the two rounds are less than the differences between 2 random interviewers. Build out your objective-driven, structured abilities, clear + concise communication, etc.

Of course, you do need to improve on any weaknesses that may have been apparent in the first round.

Remember that it's really important to be ready for anything. This isn't to shy away from answering your question, but it is the truth. The moment you go in expecting x, is the moment you've set yourself up for failure.

Train yourself in solving any problem, in any scenario, with any interviewer style.

Every Partner/interviewer is different, so just train your flexibility/adaptability.

After all…isn't that what consultants do on the job?

It doesn't matter if my past Roland Berger Middle East client got 1 top-down market sizing, 3 brainstorming questions, and 1 profitability case with a really direct/mean/short interviewer. You might get 2 bottom-up market sizings, zero brainstorming questions, and 2 unconventional cases with a really friendly/fast-paced interviewer!

Here's some reading to help:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

Hi there!

Congrats on getting this far! That's amazing!

Yes, a few things to keep in mind for last round interview:

1. Work on the feedback provided in the previous rounds. Most firms communicate the feedback from the previous rounds to the final interviewer. It's important then to show the final interviewer that you have a growth mindset and are reactive to feedback. This matters immensely. Make sure you are clear on your development areas and that you get the right support to polish them before the final interview.
2. Expect less structure. Senior interviewers already have the confidence that you are a decent candidate, your skills having been already vetted by their younger colleagues. They are rather more interested in your as a person and your way of thinking. So they might present you with an unusual case, or one that is created on the spot or no case altogether. Expect anything.
3. Focus on excellent communication. Senior interviewers care a lot about how clearly you communicate and how you manage to forge a connection with the interviewer. It's important to be top-down and concise as much as possible with your answers, while allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.
4. Put yourself in their shoes. The one question senior interviewers are asking themselves throughout the interview is what will happen when they'll put you in front of a client they've groomed for years? Make sure that even based on this first impression you seem somebody who can be trusted and who can work with any client regardless of how difficult they might be.

As a last note, if you want to increase the likelihood of success, consider hiring a coach to assess your readiness for the final interview. 

This question has been asked previously in a similar fashion. You can read it HERE.

Best,

Cristian

Congratulations on reaching the final round! That should give you a lot of confidence. 

The partner rounds can be more challenging in that the partner will push you harder to go deeper with your insights, and can sometimes use more tricky maths / graph problems. In terms of preparation, I'd say look at some of the more challenging cases in the case library, go through the old McKinsey Problem Solving Tests (you can google for these), and then consider doing a coaching session with someone who can push you in a similar manner. 

Good luck! 

There's way more variation in partner rounds. Meaning that you should prepare for the (random) things you are less prepared for.

Additionally, they probably have a good view on your weak spots, at least based on your previous interviews, so you want to make sure you improve your performance on those.

Hi there,

Some partners won’t care to do another case with candidates because they figure that these candidates have already be sufficiently vetted in previous rounds. Other partners still like to do a case or some kind of brain teaser. They are free to run the interview as they please.

They will try to determine three main things:

1. Is the candidate competent?
2. Does the candidate fit into our team?
3. Do I feel confident that I can put the candidate in front of a client?

So definitely expect personal fit questions and be prepared to tell compelling stories around the typical dimensions. In preparation, you should also familiarize yourself with the industries or functional areas the partner is active in as they like to talk about that too. It’s good to know current trends and drivers for example.

Best